The invention relates to a disc-record player comprising a disc-loading mechanism, a housing, and a frame supporting a turntable. The loading mechanism comprises a drawer which is movable between an extended position and a retracted position through a front opening in the housing and which carries a transfer means for transferring the disc to the turntable. The frame is provided with a guide means for the drawer movement and with an electric drive unit which can be coupled to the drawer for moving the drawer. The loading mechanism further comprises a vertically movable disc-pressure member for pressing the disc onto the turntable. Netherlands Patent Application No. 8302131 to which U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,361 corresponds, discloses a disc record player for playing optically readable audio discs, which can be adapted to enable optically readable video discs to be played. The underside of the drawer carries two parallel gear racks which mesh with gear wheels supported in the frame and mechanically connected to the electric drive unit. After the actuation of a manual switch the drawer is driven inward or outward by a motor until the drawer butts against a fixed stop which switches off the electric drive unit.
In order to prevent the gear wheel/rack construction or the electric drive unit from being damaged in the event that the drawer is blocked, the known disc-record player must have special provisions, such as a slipping clutch between the gear wheel/gear rack construction and the drive unit. Such a provision also ensures that a person cannot become seriously injured if his fingers get caught between the drawer and the housing.
As the drawer always performs the same translational movement certain teeth of the gear wheel/gear rack construction are always loaded additionally at the end of the inward and the outward movement. In particular when fixed stops are employed, the relevant teeth may be loaded to such an extent that they are subjected to excessive wear, resulting in excessive backlash in the gear wheel/gear rack construction, so that a reliable movement of the drawer is no longer guaranteed.